


c’mon, it’s beautiful!

by irlhendery



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Facing Your Fears, Fluff, Hendery protects(?) Xiaojun, Lowercase, M/M, Phobias, This is me projecting, Yangyang is there for extra support, altocelarophobia, look up what altocelarophobia is, xiaojun faces his fear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28939893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irlhendery/pseuds/irlhendery
Summary: “you’re joking, right?”thats what dejun said when his boyfriend, hendery, and best friend, yangyang, proposed their idea of taking him to face his fear, altocelarphobia.
Relationships: Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	c’mon, it’s beautiful!

**Author's Note:**

> hi this is me projecting because i have altocelarophobia. idk if anyone will actually read this LMAO. but if you like it have fun

“you’re joking, right?”

that’s what dejun said when he heard hendery and yangyang’s idea. 

dejun scoffed, “i am in no way, shape, or form going to a cathedral to ‘face my fear’,” he motioned quotation marks with his fingers. 

here’s the thing: dejun has altocelarphobia, the fear of high ceilings. it’s kind of a weird thing to suffer from, but it’s more common than you think. whenever he went somewhere where the ceiling was way too high for his comfort, he would go into a shock and motion hendery to lead him to the nearest exit.

the first time hendery found out about dejun’s phobia was when they went to hendery’s cousin’s, ten, wedding, which took place in a beautiful cathedral. before they were invited, hendery didnt know much about what triggered dejun other than the most common fears, like spiders. 

so when they arrived to ten’s wedding, hendery was holding dejun’s hand when all of a sudden dejun stopped walking. there they stood at the entrance of the cathedral, with dejun staring at the interior of the place. he couldn’t move, all he could do was try to tell hendery that he needed to get out of there.

long story short hendery apologized to ten and his husband, johnny, for not being able to make it. ten, his sweet soul, understood perfectly and told them not to worry. hendery and dejun got sent some wedding pictures of the couple. 

after all that happened hendery did some research about dejun’s phobia and learned a bit more on how dejun felt.

hendery pouted and whined, “please dejun? me and yangyang did it with our fears, it’s only fair if you do,” he clinged onto his boyfriend’s arm, giving him puppy eyes. 

yangyang nodded, “yeah, and we’ll be there for you! it’s not like we’re just gonna let you go by yourself. we’ll be right beside you to protect you.” yangyang gave him a confident smile. 

dejun turned from where he was doing his laundry. he looked at hendery. oh, how he loved his beloved boyfriend, even if he was kind of stupid sometimes. but he never fails to make dejun weak in the knees. then he looked at yangyang. oh, how he loved his best friend, even if he is as stupid as his boyfriend. him and yangyang have been friends since they were in the womb so it’s hard to hate him.

putting the clothes in his bag after finishing them, he let out a big, dramatic sigh. 

“fine.”

yangyang and hendery’s faces lit up, and gathered to give their lovely dejun warm hugs and sloppy smooches on the cheek. dejun faked gagged, but let himself slip a smile onto his face. 

dejun pulled away from them and continued doing his laundry. “although, you could’ve told me in a better place than in a laundromat,” he mumbled as he looked around to see people starring at them. 

hendery just smiled wider at dejun, “it’s fine! also, we’re going tomorrow afternoon!”

dejun dropped the shirt he was folding, and stared at hendery as if he said he heard war broke out.

“WE’RE GOING WHEN-“

_‘deep breaths deep breaths deep breaths’_ is what dejun repeated in his head as he saw the castle-like building creeping up closer. he gripped the car door, and couldn’t peel his eyes away from what he fears the most. dejun gulped. he made a big mistake. 

“you ok?”

hendery. oh, sweet hendery. dejun turned to look at his boyfriend who was the one driving them to their (damned) destination. he gave him a wobbly smile. 

“just dandy.” he gritted through his teeth. 

hendery looked over at dejun. it was obvious he was anything but ‘just dandy’. he got a hold of dejun’s hand, and interlocked their fingers together. here come the butterflies filling up dejun’s tummy. 

“remember i’m here for you, ok? if it’s too much then we can leave anytime you want,” hendery said, the softness and care evident in his voice.

dejun just smiled lightly at him, the grip on hendery’s hand getting tighter. he lifted their hands up to his lips to place a soft kiss on the back of hendery’s hand. 

“no, it’s fine. i was the one who agreed to this, right?” dejun said, keeping his eyes locked with hendery’s. the younger of the two smiled gently at him once again.

their moment was broken when yangyang let out a screech saying ‘we’re here!’. first of all why he is so excited about this. second of all they’ve been parked in the parking lot for a while now. 

dejun inhaled and exhaled shakily. he looked at hendery, who was still looking at him.

dejun nodded at him, “lets go.”

the trio got out of the car. yangyang and hendery rushed over to dejun immediately attached themselves to both of his sides. up ahead of them was the cathedral. this one was more gothic than the one from ten’s wedding, but slightly smaller. 

dejun tried distracting himself by asking hendery a question.

”where did you find this place anyways? don’t you have to, like, make reservations or something?” 

they were taking small steps so that they wouldn’t rush to make their way to the building. hendery shrugged as a response to dejun’s question. 

“i just found one near by. it’s open on certain days only, but today was one of those days they were open.” hendery explained.

dejun only nodded. he looked back up to where they were walking and noticed they were at the doors that lead inside. inhaling shakily for the nth time, he pulled his arm that hendery was holding on and pulled the door open. 

God was on his side today because they entered only the small area where tables and walls showed various papers and flyers for community activities. dejun let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. up ahead just a few steps were the doors that lead to the main show. dejun stared at them, dread crawling up to him. beside him, he could see yangyang about to say something. 

“you know, at least we’re not at Colonge Cathedral. last time i went there and the place was massive!”

you can tell he only wanted to brighten up the mood, but he failed to do so. both dejun and hendery looked at him, the look of one that could say ‘really?’. yangyang’s smile dropped and mumbled a ‘sorry’. 

hendery’s grip on dejun’s arm grew tighter. “i can open the door for you,” he offered. 

dejun looked at hendery with wary eyes. he gave his boyfriend a smile, and nodded; granting him permission. 

yangyang looked between the both of them as hendery walked up to the doors, that were also massive. dejun felt himself swallow hard, eyes never leaving the doors. 

here goes nothing.

hendery opens the doors, and it’s worse than dejun thought. he felt his knees weaken and he hasnt even stepped inside. he regrets ever agreeing to this. 

you see, many of you might not have altocelarophobia, so you don’t know how dejun feels. so let me explain to you. 

if you enter a room and the ceiling is high, you feel like you’re the smallest living organism in the world. you feel like the roof will collapse on you. your legs get weak and a pit grows in your stomach. in some cases, you might even have a panic attack. it might seem silly and you might think ‘who would ever be afraid of high ceilings like these? it’s beautiful!’ yes, it’s beautiful. but it’s overwhelming, and you feel like you’re going to fall. your shoulders tense up and you look around, making sure nothing will fall on you and crush you.

that’s how dejun feels. 

dejun feels yangyang and hendery trying to guide him forward, so he walks. slowly. painfully slow. he looks up. and oh boy, what a mistake that was. he feels like shoulders tense up all the way to his ears. he tried to move his arms so that he can cover his face, but is held back by yangyang and hendery. 

“hey, it’s fine. look! it’s beautiful, right? why wouldn’t you want to look at this!” yangyang exclaims from beside him. 

dejun was about to say something to try and calm his nerves, until he feels something, or someone behind him. he flinches as hendery wraps his arms around him. dejun lets out a sigh, feeling content with his boyfriend behind him, hugging him. he’s thankful for him being there. 

“it’s ok, yeah? like yangyang said, it’s beautiful. it’s not gonna hurt you.” hendery said in a soft and reassuring voice. 

now the only thing dejun can think of is hendery and his words. here come the butterflies in dejun’s tummy again. he smiled a bit, silently thanking his boyfriend.

the trio walk a little forward so they could see everything. dejun is still tense as he walks, legs shaking and arms raising as if he’s trying to defend himself. but yangyang and hendery are there for him like they promised. 

“no no not there,” dejun plead as they approached the altar. the altar of a church is sometimes the highest point, so you can see why he’s trying his absolute best to avoid it. 

hendery and yangyang stop. dejun lets out a breath, thankful for them listening. “let’s just stay here and look around.”

yangyang slowly let’s go of dejun’s arm so he could look around. hendery stayed in his place behind dejun, evident that his arms aren’t leaving dejun’s body any time soon. dejun let out a sigh, and leaned against hendery slightly, closing his eyes as well. 

“you feeling alright?” dejun felt hendery’s breath against his neck as he spoke. he only nodded. hendery went in and kissed his neck softly, trying to comfort dejun a bit. 

yangyang once against ruined the moment by yelling at them. “look up there! it’s paintings of God and stuff!” 

dejun looked over at his friend, who was looking at the ceiling and pointing. he could feel hendery look up as well. 

“look babe, its God and stuff,” hendery said, mimicking what yangyang said. 

dejun was hesitant to look up. i mean come on, someone with the fear of high ceilings wouldn’t look at a high ceiling. he didn’t listen to his head anyways, and looked up. yet another mistake. he felt himself tense up and his arms coming up to hide his vision. he looked back down and closed his eyes shut. why did he do that. 

“oh god, im so sorry i totally forgot,” yangyang said, rushing over to try and comfort his friend.

dejun shook his head, “it’s fine, it’s fine” he tried reassuring everyone. (but failed to do so).

hendery sighed, “i think we should go, we’ve been here long enough,” he said, already starting to lead the others to the exit. 

once they left the cathedral, dejun removed his arms away from his head, completely forgetting that they were there. he let out a shaky breath and looked outside. even the outdoors looked beautiful. the cathedral was placed on a hill that overlooked the country side. he felt his racing heart that he didn’t even know was beating so hard slow down. dejun let himself relax, closing his eyes and feeling the wind. he felt hendery rest his head on his shoulder from behind him 

“im proud of you,” hendery mumbled at him, placing kisses along his cheek and neck. “you’re so amazing.”

dejun couldn’t control his smile. “it wasn’t even that big of a deal.”

hendery shook his head, but didnt say anything. the couple just stayed like that for a couple of minutes before they had to go back to the car. 

as they were driving back home, yangyang decided to ‘interview’ dejun on his experience. 

“how was it”

”no”

”did you enjoy it”

”no”

“how much would you rate it”

”no”

”would you ever do it again”

“no”

”this interview is very boring,” hendery butted in, smiling at the best friends. yangyang huffed at him. 

after dropping off yangyang at his own home, hendery and dejun arrived at their own place. 

“you know,” dejun started, plopping on the couch, “i like it here more. i feel more safe.”

hendery followed his lead and sat beside him, turning to look at him, “yeah? im sure you do. but,” he turned his body to that he was looking at dejun fully, “you did really well today. im proud of you dejun, really.”

dejun looked down shyly, picking at his hands, “like it said earlier it’s not that big of a deal, really-“

”not that big of a deal?? dejun, come on. this phobia of yours as affected you so much, and now you finally confronted it. it’s a big deal. you should be proud of yourself too.” hendery said, gently moving dejun’s head so he could look at him.

”honestly, i should be the one thanking you. i mean, you’re the one who took the time to find a place and take me, and stayed by my side the whole time. don’t give me all the credit,” dejun said, taking one of hendery’s hands into his own. 

hendery smiled at him, “well either way, im happy today happened. im proud of you,”

he leaned in to peck dejun’s lips softly. that wasn’t enough to satisfy dejun though. he pulled hendery back in to kiss more fully. hendery pulled away, smiling brightly at dejun.

sometimes its worth facing your fear. and if you’re someone who has before, be proud of yourself!! facing your fear isn’t the easiest thing in the world. don’t be ashamed to have a fear, either. whether it’s a common fear or not.

bonus part: this is when dejun first told yangyang about his phobia.

yangyang looked at him, slightly confused.

”wait so, if you’re afraid of high ceilings... then how do you feel about the sky?”

dejun stared at him, his facial expression serious.

”i hate it.” he deadpanned.

laughing slightly, yangyang added “dont let hendery take you on a stargazing date then.”

they both laughed at the thought of dejun trying to convince hendery why stargazing isn’t that good of a date idea.

**Author's Note:**

> ngl i never written before so this probably sucks LMAO  
> thanks for reading tho  
> also that bonus part is an actual conversation i had with my cousin LMAO


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